Overview

Making Money In Your PJs is loaded with stories, examples and practical information, based on years of experience.

Part 1

From the outside, a voice-over career seems almost ideal. You talk into a microphone and you get paid. In Part One of this book, author Paul Strikwerda debunks the most prevalent myths that unscrupulous sales people use to try to sell you expensive voice-over trainings and demo-packages. You’ll also get a much better idea of whether or not a freelance/voice-over career is for you.

Part 2

Part Two deals with self-guided learning, coaching, and voice acting. The author tells you what producers and agents are listening for when they’re evaluating auditions, and how you can learn to let a script speak to you. He also reveals his number one trick to get rid of loud breaths and other mouth noises that can mess up your recordings.

Part 3

Most newcomers to voice-over will give up within a year because they don’t know anything about freelancing. Part Three is called “It’s a Business,” and it prepares you for the long road ahead by learning from other people’s freelance failures and successes. You’ll also learn the one word that saved the author’s freelance career.

Part 4

Having a pleasant voice is nice if you want to become a voice-over, but it’s not essential. Making sure that clients can find you is crucial for your career. In “Spreading the Word,” you’ll learn how to market yourself through your website and social media, and by developing a personal brand. It’s the story of “telling, not selling” any freelancer will benefit from.

Part 5

If you want to build a long-term career, you’ll need your colleagues just as much as you need your clients. In this part of the book, the author tells you how to separate the pros from the con artists, and introduces you to some of the colorful characters you’re bound to meet in this crazy business.

Part 6

Whether or not you are going to make it as a pro, will depend as much on your ability to read scripts as on your ability to read clients. That’s what Part Six is about. Paul Strikwerda shows you what you need to know before you start bidding on projects, and he shares his experience with one of the most popular voice casting sites.

Part 7

It doesn’t matter what you do as a freelancer, but if you don’t learn how to manage your money, you are sabotaging your success. The author will help you to determine what you’re worth so that you won’t ever sell yourself or your colleagues short. And if you’ve ever been short-changed by a client, the chapters on collecting what you’re owed are a must-read.

Part 8

In “The Inner Game,” the author talks about the secret ingredient that can make or break a freelance career: Attitude. Life as a solopreneur can be a roller coaster ride. Some months you’ll feel on top of the world. Other months you may feel like hanging up your hat. How do you deal with that, emotionally? Well, you’re about to find out!